The present invention pertains to an improved football training device for teaching linemen the proper technique for raising their bodies to a semi-crouching blocking position while firing off the line, and more particularly to an adjustable training device which limits the height to which a lineman can raise his body while moving.
Modern football is a game of physical skills designed for performing specific tasks. One of these skills requires a lineman to maintain his body in a semi-crouching position while executing a proper block. Quite often a player fails to execute a proper block because he has not learned to slowly lift his body from a lineman's three point stance to a semi-crouching blocking position which gives him a lower center of gravity. With the proper knowledge of this physical skill a player will often fail to execute a proper block since he will not have the required leverage to block his opponent.
To acquire the needed physical skills a player must be taught to control the degree to which he lifts his body upward as he moves forward. At present there are only a few training devices which attempt to teach this physical skill, but they have not received wide acceptance because of their limitations such as non-adjustability and weight.
The only known pertinent prior art patent is U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,323, dated May 11, 1971, which shows a portable running chute comprising an elongated framework supported in horizontal position at its opposite ends by U-shaped upright stands. The height of the chute is adjustable by varying the length of the telescopic legs of the uprights. This device has drawbacks which limit its use. For example, adjustment is difficult since the whole chute must be partially lifted in order to make any adjustment. There are no means for joining a series of such chutes together to form a longer running chute, and the assembly does not lend itself readily to being transported.